1950 is an ordinary year in the entire history of human civilization, but this year is destined to be an unforgettable year for North Korea in eastern Asia. In the same year, the Korean War broke out, and the Korean peninsula has since split into two hostile regimes. Because of this, this year is also a crucial year for North Korea's neighbor, China. In October of this year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese expeditionary forces, led by Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai, crossed the Yalu River on the border between China and North Korea, and launched their great expedition to "support North Korea and defend China". The reason why China, which is waiting for a lot of waste, decides to help its neighbors against its enemies, is out of a long-term strategic consideration - against the United States.
In the end, the outcome of this battle exceeded almost all Americans' expectations. It can be said that 1950 was also an important year worthy of being engraved in history for the United States, a superpower at that time, on the other side of the ocean.
However, despite the fact that in the end the China-North Korea coalition forces and the US-controlled United Nations army remained strategically evenly matched, the two sides signed an armistice agreement. China and the DPRK have achieved their strategic intent and thwarted the U.S. intent to turn the Korean peninsula into its own sphere of influence.
But the victory of the war did not come easily. In the early days of the war, China and North Korea even had major differences on the issue of "who will lead the army". Kim Il-sung insisted on leading all the troops, including the Chinese Volunteer Army; while the Chinese commander-in-chief Peng Dehuai refused to give in an inch, saying bluntly, "I am responsible to the Chinese and North Korean people and hundreds of thousands of soldiers!" How was this disagreement finally resolved? How did China and the DPRK seek common ground while reserving differences to defeat the United States side by side?
Historical Korean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula includes the present Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.Humans have lived on the Korean peninsula since ancient times.
Before the end of World War II, the Korean peninsula roughly went through several eras of nation-states, namely: Ancient Joseon period, pre-Three Kingdoms period, unified Silla period, post-Three Kingdoms period, Goryeo Dynasty period, Joseon Dynasty period, During the period of the Korean Empire and the Japanese occupation period.
Ancient Korea was the earliest slavery country on the Korean peninsula. In 194 AD, the Yan people Weiman established Weiman Korea. By 109 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the Korean Peninsula and established the four Han counties here. At the same time, there are several tribes and countries such as Sanhan on the Korean peninsula.
From the 4th century AD, Koguryo emerged, annexing these tribal states and the four Han counties; in the southern part of the peninsula, Baekje rose, and Silla , the Korean peninsula ushered in the "Three Kingdoms" period . In 668 AD, Silla united with the Tang Dynasty to eliminate the other two countries and established a unified Silla Dynasty, similar to the Jin Dynasty in China.
The so-called general trend of the world, long-term unity must divide, long-term separation must be united. More than 200 years after Silla unified the Korean Peninsula, it was divided into three countries: Post-Goguryeo, Post-Silla and Post-Baekje. This is the "Post-Three Kingdoms Era" of the Korean Peninsula in history. Later, post-Koguryeo ushered in a strong man. This strong man is Wang Jian, whose experience is similar to that of Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty.
Wang Jian was originally a general of the post-Goguryeo region. He was dissatisfied with the brutality of the post-Goguryeo ruler Jin Gongyi, and the people supported Wang Jian one after another. In 918, Wang Jian overthrew Gongyi and established himself as king, and changed the country's name to Koryo , which is the Koryo familiar to the Chinese people.
The Koryo Dynasty ruled for more than 400 years, and Wang Jian has also been highly praised in history.In 1392, history repeated itself again. The general of Goryeo, Li Sunggui, refused to send troops to Liaodong and rebelled. He overthrew the Goryeo Dynasty with the assistance of Goryeo's powerful minister, Zheng Daojeon, and established the Joseon Dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula for more than 500 years.
It was during the Joseon Dynasty that Confucianism spread widely in Korea, replacing Buddhism and becoming the mainstream thought. From the 16th to the 17th century, the Joseon Dynasty gradually fell behind due to its seclusion.
1894After the Sino-Japanese War, the Joseon Dynasty ended the suzerainty relationship with the Qing Dynasty. A few years later, Gojong, the last monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, changed the state system to a constitutional monarchy, which is called the "Korean Empire". During this period, the Korean Empire no longer had the ambitions of the Joseon Dynasty, and survived under the oppression of and Japanese . By 910 , Japan annexed Korea. Korea completely became a colony of Japan.
The Korean War
From the signing of the "Japan-Korea Merger Treaty" in 1910 to 1945, Japanese colonists ruled Korea for 35 years. During this period, Japan banned the use of the Korean national language in schools on the Korean peninsula and carried out a bloody suppression of the resisting masses, which broke out the famous "March 1 Movement" in Korean history. The leaders of the
movement even set up a provisional government in Shanghai , and later moved the capital to Chongqing due to the fall of Shanghai. In addition, just like in Taiwan, China, Japan also opened schools on the Korean peninsula to teach Japanese, strengthen the education of the imperial people, build infrastructure such as railways, and brutally exploit the Korean people.
From 1932, Kim Il Sung carried out guerrilla anti-Japanese activities in Northeast China with the support of the Soviet Union. In other words, Kim Il-sung made his fortune from the guerrilla movement and later established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, all of which depended on the support of the Soviet Union, and had to follow the Soviet Union's lead.This can also be seen in the role of the Soviet Union in the later Korean War.
After Japan surrendered, it began to withdraw from the Korean peninsula. The Korean peninsula was artificially divided into two parts, North and South, which were occupied by the two most powerful countries in the world at that time, the United States and the Soviet Union. The two parts successively established the Republic of Korea and the Democratic Republic of Korea, which is what we call now. of South Korea and North Korea.
However, both regimes, North and South, consider themselves the only legitimate government and do not recognize the other. Therefore, after the withdrawal of the US and the Soviet Union in 1949, the outbreak of war between the North and the South was almost inevitable.
The issue of leadership of the Chinese and North Korean armies
In June 1950, the North Korean army attacked South Korea, and the Korean War broke out. At the beginning of the battle, the North Korean army had a great advantage. They had rich experience in guerrilla struggle and the support of the Soviet Union's weapons. Therefore, they captured the South Korean capital, Seoul, and severely damaged the South Korean army within 3 days.
However, when Kim Il-sung thought the war was over and was cheering for victory, the US troops landed in Incheon. Beginning in September 1950, with the entry of the U.S. military into the war, the situation of the war was quickly reversed, the North Korean army was hit hard, and the U.S. military crossed the 38th parallel. At this critical moment, the Chinese People's Volunteers entered the DPRK to support North Korea, showing the world the attitude of the Chinese people.
However, at the beginning of the war, the Sino-Korean coalition was once in a disadvantageous position due to the unresolved problems. Among them, the issue of war command is a key issue, which directly affects the outcome of the war.
After the Chinese army entered the DPRK, Kim Il-sung, out of consideration for national sovereignty, has been asking the DPRK to lead the China-DPRK coalition.
And when hundreds of thousands of troops entered the DPRK to fight, Kim Il-sung's thinking changed. It was obviously inappropriate for so many people to go to a foreign country to fight under the command of foreign leaders. But he also has national sovereignty concerns in his heart. It is difficult for Kim Il Sung to have the Chinese commander-in-chief command the North Korean army to fight on North Korean soil. decision.
At the same time, our commander-in-chief Peng Dehuai insisted that the Volunteer Army was "of course led by Chinese commanders" . On the one hand, the DPRK side mainly relied on the Chinese army at that time, and it was obviously more suitable to be commanded by Chinese generals;
In this way, the issue of military leadership is before the top leaders of both China and North Korea. If this issue is not resolved, it will be difficult to win the war.
As the war progressed, more and more problems arose in the army due to the lack of unified leadership. To this end, Peng Dehuai asked Chairman Mao for help. Chairman Mao asked for the support of the Soviet Union while calling for direct interviews between the supreme commanders of China and North Korea.
After many talks, the representatives of our country and the Soviet Union had in-depth discussions with the North Korean side. In the end, Stalin agreed that the Chinese commander would unite the armies of the two sides. Kim Il-sung saw that the Soviet Union had made a statement, and in 1950, he also tentatively agreed that the Chinese would command the armies of China and North Korea.
He then appointed Peng Dehuai as the commander-in-chief and proposed Jin Xiong as the deputy commander. The issue of the unified command of the Korean War was finally resolved under the coordination of the Soviet Union.
Summary:
The issue of leadership of the Sino-Korean coalition forces is one of the many problems encountered by the Chinese and North Korean troops in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. The emergence and solution of this problem is not only related to the high level of both sides, but also closely related to the international situation at that time.China and the DPRK conducted candid exchanges, seeking common ground while reserving differences, which eventually led to the settlement of the problem, repelling the United Nations forces led by the US military, and China also achieved the goal of "defending the homeland and defending the country".
